Etihad Airways reports strong performance in 2014

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, carried a record number of passengers and cargo in 2014, marking its strongest operational performance to date.

Almost 14.8 million
passengers flew with Etihad Airways last year, a significant increase of 23 per
cent over 2013 levels. The growth in passenger demand continued to outstrip the
airline’s capacity increase, highlighting the strength of its long-term growth
strategy.

In total, Etihad
Airways carried more than 74 per cent of the 19.9 million passengers who
travelled through Abu Dhabi International Airport in 2014. With the addition of
the airline’s equity partners that operate flights into the UAE capital, the combined
total rises to a significant 82 per cent of passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi
International Airport.

James Hogan,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways, said: “Our business
model, which focuses on organic network growth, codeshare partnerships and
minority equity investments in other airlines, continued to yield positive
results in 2014 and surpassed our double-digit targets for passenger and cargo
growth.”

Etihad Airways
introduced 10 additional destinations to its global route network in 2014, with
new services launched to Medina, Jaipur, Los Angeles and Zurich in the first
half of the year, and Perth, Rome, Yerevan, Phuket, San Francisco and Dallas in
the second half of the year. In addition, frequencies were increased on 23 existing
routes across the world in 2014.

Building on its
organic growth, the airline also expanded its codeshare and equity partnerships
last year. These partnerships delivered over 3.5 million passengers onto Etihad
Airways flights, an increase of 40 per cent over the 2.5 million passengers in
2013.

In August 2014, the
airline announced a €560 million investment in New Alitalia to acquire a 49 per
cent shareholding in the carrier, a 75 per cent interest in Alitalia Loyalty,
which operates the MilleMiglia frequent flier program, and five pairs of slots
at London’s Heathrow Airport, which will be leased back to Alitalia. The
transaction received European Commission merger clearance in November 2014 and
became effective on 31 December 2014.

Alitalia is the
latest addition to Etihad Airways’ equity partners network, which also includes
airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Aer Lingus, Jet Airways and Virgin
Australia. An investment is being formalised in Swiss-based Etihad Regional,
operated by Darwin Airline.

In addition, Etihad
Airways Partners was unveiled last year to offer passengers more choice through
improved networks and schedules, plus enhanced frequent flyer benefits. The
partnership also builds greater synergies for participating airlines, which
currently include airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles,
Etihad Airways, Etihad Regional, Jet Airways and NIKI.

Etihad Airways also
reported strong cargo growth for 2014, with 568,648 tonnes of freight and mail
flown in total, a 17 per cent increase year-on-year. The airline accounted for 89.6
per cent of cargo imports, exports and transfers at Abu Dhabi airport last
year.

Over the course of
last year, Etihad Cargo enhanced its global reach by offering bellyhold
capacity on Etihad Airways’ 10 new passenger destinations and expanding its
freighter services to new markets such as Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Hanoi and
Moscow. A freighter service was also launched from Milan to Bogotá and from
Bogotá to Amsterdam, following an agreement with Avianca Cargo, the cargo
division of Latin American carrier Avianca.

Etihad Airways’ fleet
consisted of 110 aircraft at the end of 2014 (+24 per cent year-on-year), with
an average age of 5.5 years. The airline took delivery of its first Airbus A380
and Boeing 787-9 in December, with both state-of-the-art aircraft offering new
standards in cabin interiors, together with considerable fuel efficiency and
environmental improvements.

An additional nine
Airbus aircraft (two A330-200s, three A321s, three A320s and one A330-200F) and
six Boeing aircraft (one 777-300ER, five 777-200LRs) were received in 2014,
while further leased capacity was also added to enhance the airline’s rapid
growth.

Mr Hogan added: “We
enter 2015 as a stronger, more dynamic airline that will continue to enhance
the growth of Abu Dhabi as one of the world’s emerging aviation hubs.”